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An Evening with the Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year

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The night had arrived on Tuesday 20th September for Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year, Andy Heasman from Rush, to showcase just why he deserved this accolade, as he welcomed a sold out audience to the L’Oréal Academy for a wonderful evening.

After the guests gathered for drinks they were then invited to take their seats for what promised to be an incredible show. It was Fellowship President Bruno Marc who opened the night and took the opportunity to explain exactly why Andy achieved this recognition before Andy took his seat with Bruno for a one-to-one interview. The interview was an insight into how Andy would describe his style, and how he came to start his career including his mother’s influence on finding an academy for him to train in.

A short VT followed full of stunning hair, award-winning collections, inspirational shows and creative styling, highlighting the skills and expertise of Andy as an International Creative Director - before Andy returned for the next part of the evening that saw him working on his models.

The first demonstration worked with a natural curl to create a stunning ‘romantic feel’ with what he described as a “vibrant finish”, while he introduced his first presentation model who, after a short catwalk, joined him on stage. He had used graduation over graduation to get a real bevel into the hair with him conveying just how important it is to have “no boundaries in hairdressing”. Rush’s Art Team Colour Director, Chris Williams joined him at this point to describe each models’ colour, which he had worked on to compliment Andy’s colours.

While he continued to work on his first demo model his next presentation model joined him on stage, with a beautiful mullet look that reflected his ‘punk’ theme of the collection. It was lovely to hear Andy talk so fondly about his industry throughout, and he spoke fondly of his relationship with Rush’s Editorial Director, Tina Farey.

His second demonstration model was then introduced, while his first was styled off stage. The model already had a simplistic bowl shape, with Andy creating a bold and fun fringe into the style live on stage enhancing this strong look. Then it was a chance to see his final demonstration for the evening, with what Andy described as a “busy look working with the idea of expensive punk”. Disconnection and point cutting were just some of the techniques he used to create this urchin shape working with the curvature of the head.

During his final demo, he welcomed on a further three presentation models one at a time. The first had a dressed out square shape, while the second incorporated undercutting with a beautiful panel just behind the ear that Chris highlighted with the colour. His final presentation model for the night was all about the styling, and a slick back look was dressed out through the ends to ensure he finished with a show stopper.

While his models were styled for the catwalk finale, Bruno returned to join Andy on stage as they reflected on what winning Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year meant to him. It was wonderful to hear how much of a bond Andy has with Fellowship Events Manager Ann Herman and how Members’ Nights were a real starting point for him in his stage career. The audience laughed with him as he spoke about how he had no idea he was winning the award, and how he still can’t believe Tina was able to keep it a secret from him. He went on to talk about what the future holds for him and his journey with Rush Hair & Beauty. A quick question and answer session with the audience followed, before he was joined on stage by Tina to thank everyone for coming and introduce his finale for the night which was a catwalk of all his finished looks.

It really was an inspirational night with the room alight with warmth towards Andy’s achievement in winning this fabulous accolade.

Andy Heasman, Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year, said,

As current Fellowship Hairdresser of the Year it was an honour to take part in the Fellowship’s ‘An Evening With’. Being surrounded by such creative talent and being able to share my story and journey with those who took part in the evening was something truly amazing. Working alongside the Fellowship is a fantastic opportunity and I am proud to be part of this.